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Category: Foodways

Graphic shows a farm, a factory, an American flag, and the words "America Works" and "LOC Podcasts."

Now Available: The Sixth Season of the America Works Podcast — featuring food!

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

The American Folklife Center (AFC) has launched the sixth season of the America Works podcast. This season focuses on food and the individuals who grow, harvest, prepare food, as well as those who feed other Americans. Each episode is an excerpt from a longer interview, conducted as part of the AFC's Occupational Folklife Project. In this post, Dr. Nancy Groce details the new season and it's eight episodes.

Outdoor, COVID-19 dining shed being taken down.

End of a (COVID) Era: Dining Sheds Disappear from New York City Streets

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

During the COVID-19 pandemic, dining sheds--outdoor seating areas at dining establishments, theorized as “pandemic folk architecture”--were a mainstay of New York City's restaurants. In this post, Senior Folklife Specialist Nancy Groce reflects on the ephemeral nature of this foodways tradition, as dining sheds are now disappearing from the city's restaurants.

Euro-American man holding a slice of Tillamook-brand cheese.

New Occupational Folklife Project Documents “Tillamook: Cheesemakers in Coastal Oregon”

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

The American Folklife Center recently posted a new collection of interviews with workers at the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA), a farmer-owned dairy cooperative in coastal Oregon, to its Occupational Folklife Project website. This post is an interview with Dr. Jared Schmidt, a public folklorist based in Oregon, who conducted the interviews with TCCA workers. In 2021, Schmidt received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to undertake this research.

What’s That Smell? Highlighting Cabbage in the Archives

Posted by: John Fenn

This guest post is from Meg Nicholas, as Folklife Specialist on the staff of the American Folklife Center. National Cabbage Day is this Saturday, February 17th. The oft-maligned and overlooked cabbage is loaded in important nutrients, comes in a variety of shapes and colors (did you know there is a purple Napa cabbage?) and aids …

Group of people laying long poles across lit barbecue pit in ground

Caught My Eye: Buckaroos and Barbecues

Posted by: Allina Migoni

This is a guest blog post by Drew Holley, a master's student in the Folklore Studies program at Utah State University with a particular interest in food and film. Drew completed his internship at the American Folklife Center earlier this year. Today’s blog will showcase foodways collections (traditions and practices surrounding food) found at the American Folklife Center.